How did Sri Lanka get its name?

How did Sri Lanka get its name?

Sri Lanka has been known by many names throughout its history, owing to its location at the crossroads of trade and maritime travel.

Its ancient name “Lanka” was used in the epic Ramayana; the word simply means “island”. The ancient Greeks knew it as Tambropane (circa 4th century BC), from the name of its first kingdom, Tambapanini (“copper”, from the colour of the sands of Putalam). Arabs, perhaps influenced by Indian traders, called the island Serendib or Serendip, from the Sanskrit compound Siṃhaladvīpa (“Dwelling-Place-of-Lions Island”). This old name lives on in the English language as the word “serendipity”, coined by Horace Walpole in the 18th century. The Sanskrit compound (which translates to “Saheelan” in Persian) may have also been the source of its colonial name “Ceylon”, used by the Portuguese and the British. It is the name given to the tea produced on the island.

The country became known officially as Sri Lanka in 1972, reverting to its ancient name with the honorific title “Sri” which means “beauty”.